Flora Robson (March 28, 1902 - July 7, 1984) was a British actress renowned as one of the great character players and one of Britain's theatrical grandes dames.
She was born in South Shields, Durham, England and made her stage debut in 1921 at the age of 19. Lacking the glamorous looks of a leading lady, she specialised in character roles, notably that of Queen Elizabeth I in both Fire over England (1937) and The Sea Hawk (1940). At the age of 32, Robson played the old Empress Elizabeth in Alexander Korda's Catherine the Great (1934).
After the war, demonstrating her range, she appeared in Holiday Camp (1947), the first of a series of films which featured the very ordinary Huggett family; as the Mother Superior in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's Black Narcissus (1947); as a magistrate in Goodtime Girl (1948); as a prospective Labour MP in Basil Dearden's excellent Frieda (1947); and in Dearden's costume melodrama, Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948).
It was her success in Hollywood that brought her recognition, and in 1960 she was created a Dame of the British Empire. She died in Brighton.
Dame Flora McKenzie Robson DBE (28 March 1902–7 July 1984) was an Oscar-nominated English actress, renowned as one of the great character players and one of Britain's theatrical grandes dames.
Very early in life her father discovered that Flora had a talent for recitation and from the age of 6 she was taken around by horse and carriage to recite, and to compete in recitations.
Robson made her stage debut in 1921 at the age of nineteen.
Best known for her queenly and aristocratic film roles, FloraRobson was bankrolled by her father for her studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
In films from 1931, Robson's finest movie work included two appearances as Queen Elizabeth I (in 1937's Fire Over England and 1940's The Sea Hawk) and one each as Empress Dowager Livia (in the unfinished I, Claudius) and 18th century Empress Elizabeth (in 1934's Catherine the Great).
Made a Dame of the British Empire in 1960, FloraRobson continued her stage and film work until retiring after the 1981 fantasy flick Clash of the Titans.
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